BOSTON -- — Alex Verdugo singled home the winning run with two outs in the 10th inning on a fly ball that barely stayed fair at Fenway Park, giving the Boston Red Sox a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins in a bizarre finish Tuesday night.


Umpires needed a few minutes to review Verdugo's drive, which bounced off the low wall in right field just short of Pesky's Pole, before officially declaring it a hit and the game over. That sparked a second round of celebrating by the Red Sox, who got 11 strikeouts from starter Chris Sale but little offense until the end.

“A lot of crazy stuff in this game,” manager Alex Cora said.

Reese McGuire had just tied it with a two-run single as the Red Sox rallied after allowing two runs in the top of the 10th. McGuire entered as a pinch hitter in the eighth and reached on a key defensive error when Christian Vázquez was called for catcher's interference. The play helped Boston score once in the eighth and eventually force the extra inning, which featured more offense than the previous nine combined.

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"The home plate umpire called it right away, so I knew I was going to be granted first base no matter what," McGuire said. “Then when I saw the third baseman come in and field it and make a throw to first, no one was covering so Kiké (Hernández) intelligently just kept running to third.”

 

Max Kepler hit a solo homer for Minnesota in the seventh and Carlos Correa had a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Boston went up 1-0 in the first after a leadoff double by Verdugo and an RBI single by Rafael Devers. The Red Sox didn't score again until the eighth and ended up leaving 13 on base, going 5 for 20 with runners in scoring position.

Sale's 11 strikeouts were his most since striking out 12 on Aug. 13, 2019, at Cleveland. Sale, who had Tommy John surgery in 2020, threw 94 pitches.

Sonny Gray finished with seven strikeouts and held the Red Sox to one run and seven hits over five innings. He struck out seven and walked two.

Twins RHP Joe Ryan (3-0, 6.92 ERA) faces RHP Corey Kluber (0-3, 6.92) in the middle game of the series Wednesday night. The first pitch is set for 6:10 PM on ESPN 102.3/AM 1000 KSOO.

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